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Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands will the venue of the inaugural Art SG fair, set to launch November 2019. Courtesy Marina Bay Sands.
Singapore really does have an appetite for art fairs.
Following the recent announcement of a new commercial showcase set to launch in Singapore’s art enclave, Gillman Barracks, in January 2019, AngusMontgomery Arts, Tim Etchells and MCH Group released on July 13 their plans for a new fair, titled Art SG. There will be around 80 galleries from Singapore, Southeast Asia and the rest of the world participating in the event, scheduled to take place from November 1 to 3, 2019, at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
MCH Group, Tim Etchells and AngusMontgomery Arts are synonymous with the most renowned fairs in the world. They were the driving forces behind Art HK, Art Central in Hong Kong, India Art Fair and Art Basel, to name a few. Sandy Angus of AngusMontgomery Arts and Tim Etchells said about the partnership: “We are excited at the prospect of working with the team at MCH again to develop Art SG. Their undisputed background and knowledge of the arts, combined with our ability to launch new fairs, will be a potent combination in realizing our ambitions to build a successful fair for the Southeast Asia region and Singapore [. . . ] the Singapore art scene is firmly established and deserves an art fair of significance.”
However, Art SG is not the first fair to make its foray into Singapore.
Mainstay art fair Art Stage Singapore shrank from 170 galleries in 2016 to 84 in its January 2018 edition, while postponing its annual Jakarta edition until next year. This follows the Affordable Art Fair returning from two to a single edition per year, while the Singapore Contemporary Art Show quietly folded in early 2018 before its third edition.
As a stopgap measure for the possible non-return of Art Stage Singapore, there is the inaugural edition of SEA Focus, the National Arts Council-sponsored showcase of galleries at Gillman Barracks, which will be held over five days during Singapore Art Week 2019.
It remains to be seen how Art SG will fit into this landscape.
Art SG will be supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, the National Arts Council and the Singapore Economic Development Board. These are the same government agencies supporting Gillman Barracks and Art Stage Singapore.
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